TUNKHANNOCK — Have you heard that Northeastern Pennsylvania has its own Sundance, its own Toronto Film Festival?
For the past 18 years, the historic Dietrich Theater in downtown Tunkhannock has been home to film festivals like these featuring the finest foreign, independent and art films on the market.
The Dietrich’s upcoming Spring Film Festival, kicking off on April 23 and running for 21 days through May 13, will continue this tradition.
Featuring 19 films, Dietrich Theater Film Book and General Manager Ronnie Harvey shared, “Our Spring Film Festival boasts some of the most awarded films on the circuit this year. Happening smack dab in the middle of Oscar season, we are able to showcase exceptional movies before and after their prospective wins.”
“The Father,” “Minari,” and “Sound of Metal” have earned six Oscar nominations apiece, and are all slated to be part of the Dietrich’s festival. The other sixteen Spring Film Festival movies include: “Another Round” (also Oscar nominated), “Blithe Spirit,” “Breaking News in Yoba County,” “The Courier,” “Dara of Jasenovac,” “Days of Bagnold Summer,” “The Dig,” “French Exit,” “Land,” “The Mauritanian,” “My Salinger Year,” “Our Friend,” “The Painter and the Thief,” “Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse,” “The Reason I Jump,” and “The World to Come.”
When asked what movies he is most excited about in the festival, Ronnie related, “I’m most looking forward to seeing ‘The Father.’ Anthony Hopkins is one of the greats and Olivia Colman has proven herself as one of the most celebrated actresses of our time. ‘Sound of Metal’ is a career-defining performance for Riz Ahmed. The revolutionary use of sound is unparalleled for a feature film. If you missed ‘Minari’ when it was showing at the Dietrich a month ago, you will have another shot. It’s a thoughtful, moving and deeply affective film about the struggle of one immigrant family and their hope for a better future. It is just a superb film from top to bottom.”
Dietrich Theater Executive Director Erica Rogler would like to thank the 32 businesses and 113 individuals who helped sponsor the 2021 Spring Film Festival.
According to Erica, “We would not be able to bring this high caliber event to our region without all of their support, and we are truly grateful.”
Tickets to the Dietrich’s Spring Film Festival are $8.50 each. Purchasing advance tickets at the Dietrich’s ticket booth, online at www.dietrichtheater.com or by calling the theater at 570-836-1022 x3 is highly encouraged due to limited seating capacity.
The Dietrich Theater will host a Preview Day on Thursday, April 8, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. where attendees will be able to screen all 19 movie trailers of the films featured in the festival. Admission is free and concession is discounted that day.
Additionally, the Dietrich will host a Post Film Festival Discussion on Friday, May 14, at 1 p.m. at the Dietrich Theater. Facilitated by Ronnie Harvey, participants will have the opportunity to share their insights on films they saw in the festival and to ask questions with other cinephiles. Admission is free.
“It’s great to get back to a little bit of normal,” Ronnie shares. “Our film festivals have always been some of our most exciting times of the year, and to be able to bring it back with these exceptional films highlights just how important the cinematic experience is. Powerful stories and great performances will always be something to marvel at, and there is no better place to marvel at it than on the big screen.”
The following are showtimes and movie synopses of the films featured in the Dietrich’s Spring 2021 Film Festival:
Another Round
Show times:
April 24 at 9:30 p.m.
April 27 at noon
April 29 at 2:30 p.m.
May 3 at 4:30 p.m.
May 6 at 7 p.m.
May 10 at noon
May 12 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: not rated
Runtime: 117 minutes
Language: in Danish & Swedish with English subtitles
Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang
Nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the Golden Globes and starring Mads Mikkelsen, Another Round follows four high school teachers who decide to conduct a social experiment by consuming alcohol on a daily basis to see how it affects their social and professional lives. What starts out as a harmless study on the human response, slowly devolves into a midlife crisis of sorts where each man must find himself before the alcohol consumes them.
Blithe Spirit
Show times: April 26 at 2:30 p.m.
April 27 at noon
April 29 at 4:30 p.m.
May 2 at 7 p.m.
May 6 at 2:30 p.m.
May 10 at noon
May 12 at 5 p.m.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 99 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Edward Hall
Starring: Judi Dench, Leslie Mann, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher
Featuring an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher and Leslie Mann and based on the acclaimed play of the same name, Blithe Spirit is a screwball comedy about a married crime novelist who finds himself in a tough predicament when an eccentric mystic summons the spirit of his first wife during a séance leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife.
Breaking News in Yuba County
Show times: April 24 at 2:15 p.m.
April 30 at 2:30 p.m.
May 4 at 2:30 p.m.
May 6 at noon
May 10 at 7 p.m.
Rating: R
Runtime: 96 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Starring: Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Awkwafina
Featuring an all-star cast including Academy Award winner Allison Janney, Breaking News in Yuba County is an offbeat dark comedy about our obsession with celebrity culture. After her husband goes missing, an under-appreciated suburban wife gets a taste of being a local celebrity as she embarks on a city-wide search to find him. In an effort to prolong her new found fame, she stumbles into hilarious hijinks as her world turns upside down.
The Courier
Show times: April 23 at 9:30 p.m.
April 25 at 2 p.m.
April 26 at 7 p.m.
April 28 at 5 p.m.
May 1 at 2 p.m.
May 5 at noon.
May 8 at 7 p.m.
May 11 at noon
May 13 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 111 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Dominic Cooke
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Merab Ninidze
Starring Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch and Golden Globe winner Rachel Brosnahan, The Courier, a true-life spy thriller, tells the story of an unassuming British businessman recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK’s MI-6 and a CIA operative, he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with a Soviet officer in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Dara of Jasenovac
Show times: April 27 at 4:30 p.m.
May 3 at noon
May 8 at 2 p.m.
May 13 at noon
Rating: R
Runtime: 130 minutes
Language: in Serbian & German with English subtitles
Directed by: Predrag Antonijevic
Starring: Biljana Cekic, Zlatan Vidovic, Anja Stanic
Dara of Jasenovac follows 10-year-old Dara who comes face- to-face with the horrors of the Holocaust after she is sent with her family to a concentration camp not run by the Germans. As unspeakable
atrocities, overseen by vicious emissaries of the fascist government, unfold all around her, she must summon tremendous courage to protect her infant brother from a terrible fate, to safeguard her own survival and to plot a precarious path toward freedom.
Days of the Bagnold Summer
Show times: April 26 at 2:30 p.m.
May 1 at noon
May 4 at 7 p.m.
May 8 at noon
May 11 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: not rated
Runtime: 86 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Simon Bird
Starring: Monica Dolan, Earl Cave, Elliot Speller-Gillott
Days of the Bagnold Summer is a funny, sweet coming-of-age story about single motherhood and Metallica. Daniel was supposed to spend the summer with his dad in Florida, but when his dad cancels the trip Daniel and his mom suddenly face the prospect of six long weeks together. An epic war of wills ensues in their home as Daniel just wants to start a band while his mom hopes to rekindle the fun times they used to have together.
The Dig
Show times: April 23 at 7:00 p.m.
April 25 at 4:30 p.m.
April 28 at noon
April 30 at noon
May 4 at 2:30 p.m.
May 7 at 2:30 p.m.
May 9 at 7 p.m.
May 11 at 2:30 p.m.
May 13 at 7 p.m.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 112 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Simon Stone
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James
Featuring Academy Award nominees Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, set against the gorgeously filmed English countryside and based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, The Dig is a brilliant account of the most famous archaeological dig in Britain in modern times. The story follows an excavator and his team who discover a wooden ship from the Dark Ages while digging up a burial ground on a woman’s estate.
The Father
Show times: April 24 at 7:00 p.m.
April 27 at 2:30 p.m.
April 29 at noon
April 30 at 9:30 p.m.
May 2 at 4:30 p.m.
May 5 at 2:30 p.m.
May 7 at 7 p.m.
May 10 at 2:30 p.m.
May 13 at 5 p.m.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 97 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Florian Zeller
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss
Nominated for four Golden Globes and starring Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, The Father tells the story of a mischievous father, living alone and rejecting the caregivers that his daughter introduces. Yet help is becoming a necessity; she can’t make daily visits anymore and Anthony’s grip on reality is unraveling. As we experience the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can Anthony cling to, and how does Anne cope as she grieves the loss of her father, while he still lives and breathes before her?
French Exit
Show times: May 1 at 4:30 p.m.
May 3 at 7 p.m.
May 6 at noon
May 7 at noon
May 10 at 2:30 p.m.
May 13 at noon
Rating: R
Runtime: 110 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Azazel Jacobs
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts
Nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globes for Michelle Pfeiffer and starring Academy Award nominated Lucas Hedges, French Exit is the story of a widowed New York socialite and her aimless son who move to Paris after she spends the last of her husband’s inheritance. What follows is a warm and witty portrait of a mother and son who are clueless about the world without money to guide their lives.
Land
Show times: April 25 at noon
April 29 at 2:30 p.m.
May 1 at 7 p.m.
May 4 at 5 p.m.
May 7 at 4:30 p.m.
May 10 at 5 p.m.
May 13 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 89 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Robin Wright
Starring: Robin Wright, Demián Bichir, Sarah Dawn Pledge
Starring and directed by Golden Globe winner Robin Wright, Land is the poignant story of one woman’s search for meaning in the vast and harsh American wilderness. In the aftermath of an unfathomable
event, a woman finds herself unable to stay connected to the world she once knew and in the face of that uncertainty, retreats to the magnificent, but unforgiving, wilds of the Rockies. After a local hunter brings her back from the brink of death, she must find a way to live again.
The Mauritanian
Show times: April 26 at 4:30 p.m.
April 29 at 7 p.m.
May 3 at noon
May 7 at 9:30 p.m.
May 9 at noon
Rating: R
Runtime: 129 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Starring: Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Tahar Rahim
Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress by Jodie Foster and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Shailene Woodley, The Mauritanian is the inspiring true story of one man’s fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government for years. Alone and afraid, he finds allies in a defense attorney and her associate who battle the U.S. government in a fight for justice. Their controversial advocacy, along with evidence uncovered by a formidable military prosecutor uncovers shocking truths and ultimately proves that the human spirit cannot be locked up.
Minari
Show times:
April 24 at 4:30 p.m.
April 27 at 7:15 p.m.
May 2 at 2 p.m.
May 4 at noon
May 6 at 4:30 p.m.
May 12 at noon
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 115 minutes
Language: in English & Korean with English subtitles
Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan S. Kim
Winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
My Salinger Year
Show times: April 26 at noon
April 29 at noon
May 3 at 2:30 p.m.
May 5 at 7:15 p.m.
May 11 at 5 p.m.
Rating: R
Runtime: 101 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Margaret Qualley, Douglas Booth
Starring Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver, My Salinger Year is a coming of age tale about a recent college grad who wants to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She gets hired as an assistant to Margaret, the stoic and old-fashioned literary agent of J. D. Salinger. Her main task is processing Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, but as she reads the heart-wrenching letters from around the world, she becomes reluctant to send the agency’s impersonal standard letter and impulsively begins personalizing the responses. The results are both humorous and moving, as she begins to discover her own voice while using the great writer’s.
Our Friend
Show times:
April 26 at noon
April 28 at 2:30 p.m.
April 30 at noon
May 11 at 7:15 p.m.
Rating: R
Runtime: 124 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Starring: Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck
Our Friend tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family—journalist Matt, his vibrant wife Nicole and their two young daughters—and how their lives are upended by her heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt’s responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend offers to come and help out. As he puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.
The Painter and the Thief
Show times: April 25 at 7 p.m.
May 1 at 9:30 p.m.
May 6 at 2:30 p.m.
May 9 at 4:30 p.m.
Rating: not rated
Runtime: 106 minutes
Language: in English & Norwegian with English subtitles
Directed by: Benjamin Ree
Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Documentaries at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, The Painter and the Thief is a profound true crime documentary about the value and importance of forgiveness. Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova has two of her paintings stolen from her art gallery. All she has is some grainy footage of the theft and decides to go on the hunt to find out who perpetrated the act. When the thief is caught, she develops an unlikely friendship with the man and becomes invested in his rehabilitation and future.
Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse
Show times: April 27 at 2:30 p.m.
May 4 at noon
May 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: not rated
Runtime: 93 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: David Bickerstaff
From the exhibition walls to the wonder and beauty of artists’ gardens, Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse takes a magical and widely travelled journey to discover how different contemporaries built and cultivated modern gardens to explore expressive motifs, abstract colour, decorative design and utopian ideas. Guided by passionate curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, this remarkable collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and avant-garde artists of the early twentieth century will reveal the rise of the modern garden in popular culture and the public’s enduring fascination with gardens today.
The Reason I Jump
Show times: April 24 at noon
April 30 at 4:30 p.m.
May 3 at 2:30 p.m.
May 8 at 4:30 p.m.
May 12 at 7 p.m.
Rating: not rated
Runtime: 82 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Jerry Rothwell
Based on the acclaimed book of the same name and Winner of the Audience Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, The Reason I Jump is a moving documentary that examines the lives of five young people who live with autism spectrum disorder. What follows is a moving personal perspective that succeeds in providing an authentic understanding of its subjects’ journeys, challenges and achievements.
Sound of Metal
Show times: April 30 at 7 p.m.
May 5 at 4:30 p.m.
May 8 at 9:30 p.m.
May 11 at noon
Rating: R
Runtime: 120 minutes
Language: in English & American Sign Language
Directed by: Darius Marder
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
Nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor and starring Riz Ahmed in a breakthrough performance, Sound of Metal is the story of a punk metal drummer who begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. When a specialist tells him his condition will rapidly worsen, he thinks his music career and his life is over. His girlfriend checks him into a sober house for the deaf in hopes it will prevent a relapse and help him learn to adapt to his new situation. After being welcomed into a community that accepts him just as he is, he has to choose between his equilibrium and the drive to reclaim the life he once knew. Utilizing startling, innovative sound design techniques, Sound of Metal takes audiences inside his experience to vividly recreate his journey into a rarely examined world.
The World to Come
Show times: April 28 at 7:15 p.m.
April 30 at 2:30 p.m.
May 2 at noon
May 7 at noon
May 9 at 2:30 p.m.
Rating: R
Runtime: 105 minutes
Language: in English
Directed by: Mona Fastvold
Starring: Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Casey Affleck
Featuring an all-star cast including Katherine Waterston, Golden Globe nominee Vanessa Kirby, Academy Award winner Casey Affleck, and Christopher Abbott, The World to Come is a powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast. A farmer’s wife and her new neighbor find themselves irrevocably drawn to each other. Abigail tends to her withdrawn husband while free-spirit Tallie bristles at the jealous control of her husband, but together their intimacy begins to fill a void in each other’s lives they never knew existed. What follows is an exploration of how isolation is overcome by the intensity of human connection and a test of forbidden love.